Oct. 24, 2003

Final Stats

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. --- Senior outside hitter Kelly Gaudino posted a match-high 25 kills while Nicole Read added 10 kills and a .526 hitting average to lead UC Davis to a 30-25, 28-30, 30-24, 30-24 over San Francisco State in a California Collegiate Athletic Association women's volleyball match at SFSU's Main Gym Friday night.

The Aggies, playing in their first road match since October 1, improve to 12-9 overall and 7-7 in conference. The Gators drop to 4-18 on the year and 2-12 in CCAA play.

Mary McClelland recorded 16 digs to lead UC Davis, while Gaudino and Christina Ng added 14 each. Ng made her first substantial appearance at setter, taking over such duties to start the third game. She recorded a career-high 32 assists, mostly in Games 3 and 4. At the net, Read contributed two solo blocks and a block assist. Fellow freshman middle Rachel Keener also had three blocks, including one solo stuff that helped the Aggies break open their Game 3 win.

For SFSU, four players had double-figured kills. Krystle Davis led with 20 kills on 49 swings while Casey Petersen added 17 en route to a .303 hitting average. Junior Brooke Leverette had 16 kills and Aziza Bledsoe posted 10 kills and 14 digs. Bledsoe added a trio of service aces and a pair of blocks at the net while libero Angela Abuyen led the Gator floor defense with 16 digs.

Read helped wrap up a back-and-forth Game 1 win for UC Davis, serving up five straight points to finish the win. She had two aces in that stretch, with a block by Gaudino and Keener helping the cause. Gaudino had eight of her kills during the first frame.

In Game 2, Krystle Davis hit nine kills against no errors on 14 attempts to lift the Gators to only their second game victory in more than eight matches. UC Davis overcame an early 24-16 deficit to cut the Gator lead to 25-24, but kills by Leverette and Davis cushioned the margin to 27-24. Later in the game, Keener downed a free ball to bring the score to a 28-27 SFSU advantage. Davis lofted a soft kill into an open Aggie midcourt to set up a 29-27 game point, Gaudino tooled the Gator block to make it 29-28, then Bledsoe pounded one off the Aggies' block for the game-winner.

UC Davis established as much as a 19-11 lead after Keener's back-to-back service aces, but SFSU approached to within a 23-21 Aggie lead. However, Gaudino and opposite Jill McPheeters combined for three kills and an additional solo block by Keener gave UC Davis a 29-21 lead. Gaudino put down her 20th kill of the match for the 30th point.

Game 4 resembled Game 3 as UC Davis started with a 15-9 lead but saw it diminish as Petersen and Bledsoe alternated four straight kills to cut the deficit to 15-13. The Gators tied Game 4 at 20-20 on Brooke Leverette's sixth kill of the game, then tied it two more times at 22-22 and 23-23, the latter thanks to a kill by freshman Dawn Heumann.

Three points later, Kate Wilton knocked down a side-out kill to give UC Davis a 26-24 lead. Sarah Johnstone, who had previously come off the bench to serve and provide solid defense, entered the match and served the last four points, including a game-winning kill by Wilton. Johnstone finished the match with four digs in limited rotations.

The Aggies return to the road Saturday for a conference match at Sonoma State.

UC DAVIS (kills-aces-blocks) - Kate Wilton 11-1-1, Kelly Gaudino 25-0-1, Marritt Cafarchia 2-0-0, Christina Ng 1-1-0, Rachel Keener 6-2-3, Nicole Read 10-2-3, Sarah Johnstone 0-0-0, Mary McClelland 0-0-0, Kim Vincent 3-0-1, Jill McPheeters 2-0-0, Ellen Fitzpatrick 6-0-0. Totals 66-6-6.0. Assists - Christina Ng 32, Marritt Cafarchia 21. Digs leaders - Mary McClelland 16, Kelly Gaudino 14, Christina Ng 14.

SFSU (kills-aces-blocks) - Brooke Leverette 16-0-0, Chris Matteucci 0-0-1, Dawn Heumann 4-0-3, Aziza Bledsoe 10-3-2, Casey Petersen 17-0-0, Krystle Davis 20-3-2, Angela Abuyen 0-0-0, Audrey Biehle 0-0-0. Totals 67-6-5.0. Assists - Chris Matteucci 58. Digs leaders - Angela Abuyen 16, Aziza Bledsoe 14, Krystle Davis 13.